Child of the Dark
by ErikaTheFreak
Summary: Harry Potter was not the boy who lived. Instead his parents died in a car crash and he was sent to privit drive. Cynical, sarcastic,abused and raped by his uncle he arrives at Hogwarts very different. And then he finds out his father is still alive.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. I'm not making money off any of this, i only write for my own amusement.

A/N: PLEASE READ- In this story, Neville is the Boy-Who-Lived and Harry's parents really did die in a car crash.

Harry Potter lived on Privet Drive, Surrey. It was a perfectly normal neighbourhood full of perectly normal people. He lived with his perfectly normal relatives; Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley Dursley, his cousin. He was 4"6, thin, had messy black hair and emerald green eyes and on his forehead was a lightning bolt shaped scar. He had lived with his perfectly normal relatives in this perfectly normal neighbourhood since he was a year old and his parents had died in a car crash. But Harry Potter was a strange boy. At 10 years old he could easily have passed all his GCSE's with A's, he was very sarcastic and had a dry sense of humor, he was independant and extraemely observant.  
What was even more strange was the fact thet he could make things do what he wanted. He could manipulate objects, elements and even people.  
His relatives noticed that from a very young age he was strange and that he could make things happen, they could could feel his power and they were scared. So they tried to stop it.  
He was given the cupboard under the stairs as a bedroom, locked in there for days on end as punishment. He was starved when he did his 'strange' things and when his relatives were particulally angry, he was beaten. But people took no notice of the quiet little boy with amazing talent. Not the teachers, not the other residents of the streets and certinaly not the children.  
No, little Harry Potter had never had any friends, the other children had always been too scraed of being beaten up by Dudley Dursley or been off-put by his sense of humor and his sarcasm. So Harry Potter carried on his perfectly normal life and his perfectly normal routine. Until the day of his eleventh birthday, the day the letter came.

Harry stared thoughtfuly at the letter that was in his hand. It did explain his powers and his relatives horrible treatment towards him. Oh yes, Harry had understood from a very early age that what his relatives did was wrong, he understood that the other children had friends and didn't have to live in cupboards. And now he knew why. He thought for a moment before smiling slightly and grabbing a pen and a piece if notebook paper and he began to write out a reply.

Severus Snape was annoyed. The old fool Dumbledore had gone on a holiday and left him in charge of all the incoming mail and visiting confused first years about Hogwarts. He sighed in annoyance as yet another old came soaring though the window. He paid the old and tore open the letter.

To whom it may concern,  
I am afraid i do not understand certain aspects of the letter i recieved earlier this morning. Before i make my decision on whether i should attend your school i would like some more information about the 'wizarding world'. Thank you.  
Yours sincerly,  
Harry Potter.

Now, Severus Snape was not easily surprised but the way the letter was written was most unlike a potter. He snorted in amusement and sighed again before folding the letter back up and wearliy setting off towards Privet Drive.

"FREAK! GET THE GODDAM DOOR!" " Yes Uncle Vernon" Harry replied. He ran to the door and opened it to a tall scowling man in black robes.  
" Can i help you?" he asked with a sneer. The man frowned at him.  
" Is this the home of Mister Harry Potter? I wish to speak to him"  
Harry looked at his expectantly for a few minutes before speaking. " Well, speak then." Snape stared at the small boy looking up at him. " I assume you are Mister Potter then?" The boy nodded curtly. "Yes. You have come about the letter, yes?" Snape, still slightly bemused, nodded and followed him into an immaculatly clean looking living room.

"FREAK! WHO THE HELLS AT THE DOOR"  
"A man about my letter" He said calmly. Snape watched as a huge whale of a man came storming into the room, his face red with anger, and pinned the child to the wall.  
"HOW DARE YOU! I TOLD YOU ALREADY, YOU WILL NOT BE GOING!" He raised his hand and brought it down on Harry's face. Harry shrank back in fear and refused to look at the man staring shellshocked at him from the other side of the room.

Severus Snape watched in shock as the man struck the boy across the face, but when he raised his hand to strike him again, he took action.  
"Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled and the man that Severus assuned to be Vernon Dursley fell to the ground, a look of shock and fear upon his face. Severus turned to the boy who had picked himself up of the floor and was staring in amusment at his petrified uncle. He cleared his throut and Harry looked at him warily. "Why did you help me?" he asked quietly. Severus looked at him for a moment before relpying.  
" Because i believe it is wrong to strike a child." Harry looked at him for a few more minutes, silently observing him.  
"Can you tell me about Hogwarts?"

A/N: I'm going to end the chapter here as i want the explanation about Hogwarts and the trip to diagon alley in the next chapter. I might include the train journey to Hogwarts aswell.

So please REVIEW! you know you want to... But please don't flame me :( 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never will be. I don't own any characters. It's all written for my own amusement.

"Can you tell me about Hogwarts"  
Severus Snape took a deep breath and began to explain.  
" Hogwarts is the most well-known wizarding school in the world, and probably the oldest. It is a boarding school and we teach 11-18 year olds how to control magic. In first year you start with the basic studies that you have to do until sixth year. These studies are: Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Herbology, Astronomy and Defence Against the Dark Arts. In third year you must choose two more subjects, more if you wish." He paused a moment for this to sink in before continuing.  
" The school is split into 4 houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. You gain house points for being good and as punishment you will lose points or gain a detention. At the end of the year thw house with the most points wins the house cup. There is also clubs that you can join and you can watch quidditch when the house teams play." He ignored the puzzled look on th child's face when he said quidditch but quickly explained it was a sport played on broomsticks.

Harry was very pleased at the information he had recieved from the surly man and turned to him with his final question.  
" Where do i buy all my things for this school then?" He had looked at the books and items that were on the list and knew that he would not find tem in any shop in the non-magical world.  
" I will take you to Diagon Alley where you can buy your school supplies." The proffesor replied but Harry narrowed his eyes.  
" No way, i've let you come into my house and explain Hogwarts to me and all this other magical stuff but you're not taking me to this place. How am i supposed to know whether you're a kidnapper or anything" Harry protested. Severus raised an eyebrow in amusement.  
" I can assure you Mister Potter, i am not trying to kidnap you. I am a proffesor at Hogwarts myself and Headmaster Dumbledore would never employ a teacher that would steal his students." Harry still looked way of him but he agreed to be escorted to Diagon Alley by the proffesor.

Harry looked at the wall, his proffesor and then back at the wall again. He was not impressed.  
"A wall." He turned to look at his professor again. "You brought me to a backalley behind a dodgy looking pub in London... to look at a wall." He raised an eyebrow and smirked. Severus Snape sneered at him but silently he agreed. I mean, the most impressive shopping street in the whole of wizarding britain, was hidden behind a bloody wall. He tapped the brick sequence and watched the child's expression as the wall opened to reveal Diagon Alley. To his surprise the boy snorted, muttering something about it being impractical and childish. Severus rolled his eyes. There was no pleasing this child.

Harry was still not impressed. The man had made Diagon Alley out to be an amazing shopping centre; the way he saw it, it was a cobbled road with lots of old fashioned looking shops full of colourful dispays, it was hidden behind a wall in a dark alley behind a pub and, to make things even worse, it was raining. People didn't call him pessimistic for nothing.

After an hour or so, Harry had collected all his books, robes and other nessesseties and he finally had his wand. It was 11 inch, Holly and Pheonix feather. He didn't like the man that had sold him the wand, there was something strange about him and the proffesor didn't seem to like him either. "Ah, Mister Potter, i wondered when i would be seeing you. You look just like your father did at your age..." the old man had started. However, Harry didn't like to talk about his parents, especially with someone he had never met before.  
" I'm sure i do sir," he had said sweetly with a simpering smile "unfortunatly, they're dead." He had carried on smiling sweetly and the man winced uncomfortably. The rest of the experiance in the shop had gone without incidence although Snape did seem to be looking at him strangely.

" On September 1st, you must be at platform 9 3/4 before 11 O' Clock as this is what time the train leaves, without fail, so be sure to be on time." Snape had sneered at him. Harry had looked at him with his eyebrows raised is exasperation when the man had explained how to get onto the platform. Honestly, they seemed to have a fixation of hiding magical places behind walls.

Harry had got to the platform at 10:40 and had successfully found an empty compartment and after stowing away his trunk, he had setteled down with a book. This was how one Ronald Weasley found him.  
"Excuse me, everywhere else is full, can i sit here?" Harry looked at him and nodded curtly. Whilst Harry himself was dressed in black jeans and a plain white shirt he had bought in Diagon Alley, this boy was tall and gangly with a rather unique colour of red hair. He was wearing patched up robes that looked about 10 years old and he was carrying a rat in his pocket. He grinned widely at Harry.  
" So, what house do you think you'll be in?"

A/N: I know this chapters a bit shorter than the other one but next chapter he'll be at Hogwarts and he'll be sorted. :D So please review but no flames please. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine, only written for fun.

The train journey to hogwarts had gone fairly well; the Weasley boy had severly gotten on Harry's nerves with his non stop chatter and his optimism. He talked about irrelvant subjects that Harry had either no interest in or no knowledge of. Eventualy He took the hint and left Harry to read his book.  
Halfway through the journey a boy and a girl nervously walked into the compartment and asked to sit down. Harry sighed but moved over to make room. They introduced themselved as Callie Isherwood and Silus Pritchard. Callie was around 4"9' and had brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, she had kind yet calculating blue eyes and a slim dancers body. Silus was 5"2' and had a more more muscular build. He had black hair that fell into his cool blue eyes and he gave off an air of intelligence. Both were muggleborn. Harry nodded politely at the two children who nodded back.  
By the time they reached Hogwarts, Harry had finished his book and had a few conversations with Silus and Callie, much to the annoyance of Ronald Weasley whom Harry seemed to have taken a dislike to due to his innane chatter. Harry was still rather dubious about his new school but when he got into the boat and sailed across the lake, even he had to stare in amazment at the castle.

Half of the other children had been sorted and Harry smiled at Callie when she was sorted into Ravenclaw.  
"Potter, Harry" Harry took a deep breath before walking up to the stool that the old hat sat on. He had managed to contain his surprise at the talking hat but he was still rather nervous about putting a hat on his head that could see into his mind. He looked out at all the people staring curiously at him before the hat covered his eyes.

"Mister Potter. My, my, what an interesting mind. No certinally not Hufflepuff, you would not stand their cheerfulness. And not Gryffindor, no they would not challenge you enough. Hmmm... You would do well in both Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Now, where to put you. A very intelligent child, yet not interested in studies, more about your future. I think you would do best in SLYTHERIN!" Harry smirked at Snape when he saw him looking at him and walked over to the table clothed in green and silver. Harry was pleased when Silus was sorted into Slytherin and made room for him to sit down beside him.  
"Hi Harry. It's a shame Callie isn't in the same house as us, that would have been fun." Harry nodded in agreement and the two boys began to have a conversation about what they thought the lessons would be about.  
They turned at the sound of a stern looking witch tapping her fork on her glass. The headmaster stood up and cleared his throut.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts first years! and welcome back to all the rest of you!" he began cheerfully. Harry rolled his eyes, just what he needed, another bloody optimist.  
"I have a few start of term notices to tell you..." Harry zoned out and the next thing he knew Silus was hissing at him to come on and follow him to the common room. Harry quickly pulled himself together and followed the r prefect named Flint to what seemed to be the dungeons.

Harry lay in his bed in the Slytherin dorms. He was sharing a room with Silus, Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Theodore Nott. Blaise was a nice guy, very clever and had a good sense of humor. But the other boys... Malfoy and Nott were stuck up jerks obssessed with control and money and whilst Crabbe ad Goyle were nice, they had no common sense and were completly stupid. And that Flint guy, the prefect, he had knowledge. With his knowledge he could have easily got into Ravenclaw. But he had power, he had control, and even though most people from other houses thought he was evil and used this power for bad, he protected his house from unwanted guests and defended the younger students. Harry had learnt from a very young age that everyone had masks. Like the mask of the Dursley's. Their mask showed a perfect little family who happily took in and cared for their delinquent nephew. Ans just like the Dursley's, Harry had a mask. And it was finally beginning to fall.

A/N: Well, this is the end of this chapter. Ta Da! i know it's short and bits of it probably don't make sense but please review. No flames please. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Was it mine last chapter? No? Well then, it's not mine this chapter either. Cheerio.

Severus Snape stared in shock at the letter he had just recieved. A timed letter from Lily Potter.

Dear Severus,  
If you are reading this this then i am dead and my son Harry should be eleven years old. That's if he survived. I know you probably hate me Severus for having to leave, but you know it was only for our own safety. But i have to tell you, Harry is not James' son; he's yours. Ours, our little boy. At his borth i placed a charm on him to make him look like James until he was 11. If he did not survive then i am sorry but i thought you had the right to know you were a father. If he is still alive, he will recieve a letter from me at the same time as you and the charm will begin to fade. Please look after him.  
Love always , Lily

He had a son. He was interupted from his thoughts by a very distressed looking Harry Potter running through his classroom door towards him.

To say Harry Potter was upset was putting it lightly. He had just recieved a letter from his dead mother stating that his father was infact alive and had no clue of his existance. His masks had dropped for the first time since he was around 8 and he had ran, fists clentched at his sides, to the room Flint had pointed out as his head of house's classroom. He promptly sat down on a chair and broke down.  
Severus Snape reached out towards the child only to find that he flinched away, sobbing.  
"Hhow ccould th th they not t t tell us?" Even he was surprised at his willingness to open up to somebody he had only met once. Severus hesitantly placed his hand on the sobbing child's back and pulled him into an awkward hug.  
"I don't know Harry. Shhhh, it's okay, let it out." They stayed in that position for several minutes before Harry pulled away, his mask slightly more in place.  
"What are we going to do now?" he asked nervously. Severus hesitated once more before replying. "Well, it's okay if you don't but... I'd like to get to know you a bit more. And i think we should inform the headmaster of our...situation." Harry nodded and paused for a moment before firmly setting his mask again.  
"Goodnight sir." He said as he turned to leave. Severus placed his hand back on his shoulder, filing his wince for future reference.  
"Call me Severus, Harry." He smile faintly. "Call me Severus".

A/N: I know it's really short but i wanted them to have an emotional reunion author wipes away tear and i didn't want to spoil that by adding other things. I also know it's moving quite fast but remember, it's only going to be a short story people! only around 7-8 chapters. Please review (but no flames please). 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Am i JKRowling? No? Well then, it's still not mine unfortunatly

Albus Dumbledore placed his head in his hands wearily.  
"Do you mean to tell me that Harry is your son and you only found out today." Severus nodded and the stony faced boy beside him just stared in a calculating way at the headmaster. Albus groaned. "Very well, i will inform the other staff so that you will not be questioned for spending time with Harry." He waved his hand towards the door. They took the hint.

Outside Dumbledore's office Harry finally spoke.  
"I don't like him. He's manipulative and i have a feeling that he already knew about all of this." Severus nodded in agreement and looked at his watch. "It's time for lessons, you'd better run." Harry said goodbye and ran towards the corridor his father said led to the charms classroom. Although he was five minutes late, he was surprised to find that he was not the last person to walk in the room and sighed with relief before sitting down next to Silus and Callie. (A/N: i am mixing most of the Slytherin classes with Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor because i want Callie to be in the same classes as the boys but not the same house)  
"What did i miss?" He hissed to his friends who shrugged and said that the lesson hadn't started yet. As it happened, that lesson they were doing the levitation charm. Harry looked confused. He had thought that the school would teach him magic, he had already been doing simple things like levitation charms for years; without a wand. Professor Flitwick saw his confused look and came over to check on the boy.  
"What seems to be the problem Mister Potter?" He had asked in his squeaky voice. At Harry's answer he had been so surprised, he had fallen backwards off his chair.  
"I've been able to do levitation charms for years, not realizing it was magic. What should i do?" When Flitwick had finally picked himself up of the floor, he looked up only to see Harry casually levitation the feather without a wand, and promptly fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Harry was once again sat in the headmaster office with Dumbledore and Snape.  
" Honest, i don't know how i do it! I've always been able to do strange stuff." Snape looked worriedly at the headmaster and cleared his throut before looking at Harry.  
"Harry, i know Petunia hated magic. When you did your 'strange stuff', what did they say or do?" Harry froze and paled, refusing to look in their eyes. "They punished me." Severus was beginning to panic now but he kept his voice steady and his face calm.  
"Did they hit you often Harry? I know they did hit you, i saw, remember? " Harry hesitated before nodding, ashamed.  
" They would hit me or beat me if they saw. Or sometimes..." He paused again. "Sometimes just for the hell of it." Severus was furious now. How dare they treat a child like that. Or better still, how dare they treat HIS child like that. "Harry... did they ever touch you or anything like that?" He really wanted the answer to be no but when he saw his son's mask drop and tears began to flow down his cheeks, he knew that they had.  
" U uuncle Vernon, he he he t touched me, he he rraped m me." He choked out. Severus pulled the distraught child into his lap and held him close.  
"it h h hurt so bad. It h hurt sso b bad Dad." Severus gently rocked his son until he felt his breaths even out and he realized he had fallen asleep. He felt his own tears begin to fall and he remembered Harry's words. Dad. Harry had called him Dad.

A/N: I know it's really short and it's moving really fast but i wanted Severus to find out about the abuse as soon as possible and i wanted everybody to realise just how powerful he is. I'm really sorry if there are spelling and/or punctuation mistakes but i have a new computer and i still need to load a program onto his that will let me spell check it. So I'm sorry if my awful spelling offends you but i am trying. Please review but no flames :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Understand? Good.

That night was spent in Severus' rooms whilst Harry calmed down and pulled himself together. Severus could see his son's masks disappearing before his eyes and his emotions that had been locked up for years, for finally beginning to show. Finally beginning to heal.  
"Dad?" He looked up to see his son's face, complete with his stony mask, staring down at him. He looked at him expectantly and the boy carried on.  
"Dad, I'm going to tell Callie ans Silus. You know, about us. I mean, they're my best friends and they deserve to know, right?" Severus sighed and motioned for Harry to sit down next to him.  
"Son, how well do you know these people?" Harry frowned. He had got very close to the two other children in the month that he had been at Hogwarts and he felt he could trust them very well. "I trust them Dad, they won't tell." His father thought for a moment before nodding and Harry reached a sign of relief.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

After transfiguration, in which Harry had once again proved his power and had moved onto NEWT level spells, Harry pulled his friends towards the library where he sat them down and began to explain about what had happened since term began. To say his friends were shocked was putting it mildly but they quickly got used to the idea and Harry set of towards DADA feeling like he had a huge weight lifted of his chest, not noticing the smirking blonde boy who had heard every word of the past conversation.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

Albus Dumbledore had just finished his breakfast and was busy sipping a goblet of pumpkin juice as he picked up the morning paper. He turned the paper around so he could see the headlines and began to choke on his drink.

HARRY POTTER. BUT IS HE REALLY A POTTER?

Yesterday, Mister Harry Potter, age 11, was heard telling his close friends Silus Pritchard and Callie Isherwood, that his father is not James Potter but is infact Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts. Is this just a cry for attention or is Mister Potter not really a Potter at all?... More on page 3.

"Severus! Look at this! This paper is getting more and more ludicrous each day! Here it's saying Harry Potter is your son! Good Lord, i swear Fudge is losing it." Severus looked at Professor McGonagal nervously and her mouth dropped open.  
"Please don't tell me it's true." Slowly Severus nodded and McGonagal sighed in annoyance. "Bloody hell, now i owe Arabella Figg 10 Galleons!" This time it was Severus' mouth that dropped open. "You had a bet with someone on whether Harry Potter was my son?" Minerva nodded sheepishly. "She said he acted way to much like you for it to be coincidence and i agreed with her but bet that you wouldn't find out until at least 3rd year..."She babbled on for a little bit before dwindleing of and looking at Severus worriedly. "Are you okay?" He shook his head. "Nobody was to know, he's still getting used to the idea of having a father. I have to go and talk to him, okay? Just... tell Albus neither me nor Harry will be attending classes today." And with that he stood up and swooped out of the staff room and towards his son's dorms.

A/N: I know it's short but I've really lost my inspiration for this story. I think the next chapter will be the last. I'm sorry. But please review, i'm always grateful for tips on how to help my writing. Please don't flame.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything belongs to JKRowling.

It had been a week since the papers had been published and Harry had had mixed reactions towards him. Severus and Harry had agreed that they would confirm the rumour about them and that they would not lie when asked about their father-son relationship. Some people disliked Harry with a passion after finding out who his father was but some came across as more friendly than before. Harry just remained seemingly indifferent to them all as he had a desperate battle with himself as he attempted to keep his masks in place. But is was no use. They were falling.

Harry found himself in a witness chair in front of a full wizarding court. He nervously looked to his left and saw his aunt and uncle glaring at him angrily. On his right was his father who smiled reassuringly at him as he anxiously scanned the room. The court had already heard both his fathers and his guardians accounts and now it was his turn. Tears trickled down his face as he told the courtroom of his brutal beating and cruel punishments. His breaths turned into sobs as he told about the rape and eventually the judge allowed him to take a 10 minute break. He sobbed into his fathers shoulder as he comforted him and whispered comforting words into his ears.

After 10 minutes was up, he went back up to the stand and waited anxiously on what the judge had decided. His whole life depended on this man's decision. If the Dursleys were found guily, they would be imprisoned for at least 20 years and Severus would be allowed to adopt him. But if they were found innocent... He would have to go back with them, change schools and Severus would never be able to see or speak to him again. Tears began to flow again as he waited for the judge's word.

"I find the Dursleys guily of child abuse and rape and i sentence you to 30 years in askaban each. Severus Snape, you will be allowed to adopt Mister Potter here." The judge smiled kindly at Harry. "Court is dismissed."

Harry cried tears of joy as he ran to his father. He embraced him tightly and as he cried his father whispered to him once more.  
"We're going home Harry, we're going home."

A/N: I'm very sorry but this is the end. I know its short and pretty awful but i just couldn't bring myself to write anymore. I promised myself is i stopped enjoying it i would stop. So... that's it. The End.  
Please review but no flames.


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